Love Lost
by Isil Elensar
Summary: Glorfindel still grieves the loss of his mortal love, Ariel.
1. Love Lost

'_For an eternity I waited for you. And now, I must spend another eternity with my heart whispering your name.'_

Ariel was the light of my life, and everything else. For ages, it felt like I was just wandering Arda alone, until I met her. She was my… everything. Her hair was the color of darkest night and her eyes were a dark, golden brown. She could dance as gracefully as any elleth, and to my eyes, she danced better than any of them. Her voice was soft and gentle, and it was like quicksilver. Smooth and light, her voice would cast away any doubts or fears I had. She would sing, but only for me, because she felt her voice was not as glorious as those of my kind. No matter how much I tried to tell her it was the most beautiful singing I had ever heard. And her touch was the trigger to set my heart on fire. Her soft caresses would send me up to the heavens and back. Her body against mine was pure bliss. Ariel was my love, my life… And now that she is dead, not even the bastion of Imladris can keep my heart from breaking whenever I think of her. Even on the wind, I can still hear her laughter.

I hear the soft crunch of footsteps on the grass behind me. I can only guess at who has come to offer their condolences, to offer comfort in my time of grief. The footsteps stop. I wait for the voice that carries pity in the tone_. 'Poor Glorfindel. Grief stricken over the passing of a mortal woman.'_ No one understands what she meant to me. No one understands.

"This is where I find you," a gentle voice said. Surprising. I did not expect him to come. He has been the most silent of them all. "I looked everywhere, including where you buried her."

"I cannot go there anymore, Erestor. It hurts too much."

"I know," he said, settling down beside me. I turn to look at him, feeling surprise. Did he know? Did he truly know what I felt? He stares at the ground for a while before looking at me. "It will hurt for longer than you think. But then the pain will fade and all that you have left are the memories."

"How do you know this?" I ask, no willing to believe he really did know what I was feeling.

"How do I know?" he repeated back to me. "It is as you are not willing to believe. I can see it in your eyes, my friend," he said, looking back at the ground. "I have also loved and lost. She was a mortal woman as well." His gaze found mine again and a soft smile appeared on his face. "I think, sometimes, I can still hear her voice carried on the wind."

"When will it fade? When will I be able to think of her and not want to follow her into death?"

"You know as well as I that you will not find Ariel in the Halls. Mortals are only there for a short time, and not in the same place that we go. From there, we know not where they go. This is dangerous ground you tread upon, my friend. I do not wish to mourn your passing again."

"Then when will my pain fade? When!"

I was irrational, demanding this information of him. And Erestor looked at me with the same pity I have seen in everyone else's eyes. _'Poor Glorfindel. Grief stricken over the passing of a mortal woman.' _That was a betrayal I could not take. Not from him, the one person I now knew to have at least endured the same pain. I know he saw what I felt, and didn't stop me as I got to my feet. I was only a few paces away when I heard his voice calling to me.

"It takes some time, Glorfindel. You must trust me when I say it will fade. When it does, you will be able to think of her without it hurting." He, too, rose from his place and came to stand in front of me. His hands grip my shoulders for a few moments before dropping again. "It helps to talk to her. Go to her grave and just talk. That is what helped me."

Erestor turned to go, and I remain standing there. Ariel's grave was not the place I wanted to go. And talking to her when I knew she will not answer? Folly! All of it was folly! Anger filled my mind as I began to walk. When I talked with Ariel, it was in total agreement. We never argued, even when we did not see eye to eye on a particular subject. But it was such a joy to see the emotions cross her face and shine in her eyes. I loved how her mind worked! If I were to talk to her again, even now, it would not feel the same. Again, I feel the pain of her death in my heart. I feel the emptiness that is threatening to grow within me.

Anger leaves me to be replaced with sadness, and I stop my walking. In the pale light of Ithil above me, I see that my feet have brought me to her grave. Tears fill my eyes, and I try to turn and leave, but I cannot bring myself to move. Not even to run away as I have in the short time since her death. A passing cloud obscures the scene, but when it passes, my eyes alight on the single stone I left to mark this place.

In my heart, I know now that Erestor was right. Even if Ariel could not hear me, wherever she was now, talking to her will help ease my pain. Thus, I begin:

"Oh Ariel. For an eternity I waited for you. And now, I must spend another eternity with my heart whispering your name. I miss you so much."

Even on the wind, I can still hear her laughter.


	2. Author's Notes

I think I should mention a few things here. And a few thank yous.

The line: 'For an eternity I waited for you. And now, I must spend another eternity with my heart whispering your name' and 'Even on the wind, I can still hear her laughter' are from a quiz I took from another LJ entry. I fixed them a bit so that they fit the story better. The first phrase is what set the rabbit on my ankle.

This story was also supposed to be about Legolas, but he wasn't cooperating. Neither were Elladan and Elrohir, for some odd reason. I almost went with my First Age OFC, Geliriel for this tale, but I have other ideas for that. That landed me with two elves, which ironically were from Rivendell. Glorfindel and Erestor. And in a moment of inspiration, I had Dawn Felagund roll the dice for me. Glorfindel would be my main character, Erestor the minor. I have only read a few tales using these two characters, but never written them, so it was a bit of a challenge for me. But I think I succeeded.

I have also gone with the idea that the Glorfindel of Rivendell is the same as Glorfindel of Gondolin. Whether it's fanon or canon, I know not. But it made fore a nice line from Erestor. :-)

I could not find a name I liked for Glorfindel's love, but Ariel was the first one that popped up in my mind. Once again, Dawn helped me out, and told me that Ariel would be a nice name. "Ara" being the prefix for 'noble' and "iel" being one of the more common suffixes for female names in Middle-earth.

Thank yous go to:

Rhapsody and Space Weavil for having the quiz in their journals that led to this rabbit. :-)

Dawn Felagund for rolling the dice for my character of choice, and for validating my choice of name for a mortal woman. :-)

Tarion Anarore for the quick once over and quick fix.

Julie, a friend of mine that is in the fandom, but doesn't write fanfic, for telling me how much she liked it. Even with the kleenex alert. :-)

And to everyone who reads this, THANK YOU!

Isil


End file.
